[Introduction]
“Perspective is the bridle and rudder of painting.”
-Notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci
It is pretty evident that we all perceive things differently. Take for example, this image. What did you initially see? A young lady or an old woman? One designation of a perspective is “a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance.” I feel that this personal ‘frame of reference’ of sorts allows us to both perceive and understand everything around us (i.e. our environment). For some time, I have been both amazed and puzzled at this notion of varying perspectives of individuals. At its simplest form, the most palpable perspective is my own. And even then, it’s an ever changing, constantly molding, easily influenced one.
I have been very blessed to have come across numerous individuals up to this point in my life. Some have encouraged me positively, and others have challenged me but all have led to both my growth and the point and perspective I have today. This led me to come up with an interesting idea/project. I decided that I would write a group of various and unique individuals, who I feel have all affected me in one way or other positively, and asked each one to give a short perspective on a lesson they learned or an experience through which they grew. Each individual was asked to relate their perspective to life, death, and/or love (all forms: romantic, platonic, etc.) and conversationally share their experience in written form and send it to me. It was agreed upon that everyone would remain anonymous and I would simply present the perspective as is. Receiving these written pieces, I was absolutely blown away. The diversity of the group of these individuals is so vast and while I have known each individual for some time, each perspective I read was like getting to know them all over again for the very first time. This was exactly what I was hoping for. I felt that by bringing together these perspectives, it could serve as a unique experience for each reader to draw something from each written piece. Maybe even change perspectives…
Over the next few posts, I will be presenting these perspective pieces a few at a time, grouped into volumes: life, death, and love. You will get the opportunity to hear from a former collegiate powerhouse soccer player, an individual who left a prestigious university to pursue a culinary career, a leader of a Crips gang just released from a long prison sentence,a Med student finishing up preparing to be a physician in internal medicine, a former NYC investment banker matriculating into a top ranked Law program, a university graduate who then joined the Marines to serve our country in the war in Iraq, and other amazing individuals with perspectives on life, death, and/or love. The thing that strikes me most about these individuals is that these “descriptions” do not completely define who they are nor do they limit them into a specific mold of what others should expect them to be like. The experiences that go with these descriptions simply give a little bit of perspective to who they were, who they are, and who they are going to be.
Come explore these poignant responses I received:
